Dangerous Driving Review: Gameplay Impressions, Videos, Features and Modes

Arcade racers are out of season in gaming's current landscape—a niche that developer Three Fields Entertainment aims to fill with Dangerous Driving.  

Other than a remastered Burnout Paradise a year ago, gaming has transitioned to the sim-esque style of racers in all varieties and hasn't looked back. Forza and a handful of others have dominated the scene, perfecting accessible experiences as deep or casual as players want. 

But a vocal minority has harkened for the days of a Burnout 3: Takedown, hence the creation of Three Fields Entertainment built around the folks behind Burnout itself. After a few small offerings, the studio has put it all together with a fully-featured game with crossover appeal for old Burnout fans and newcomers alike. 

Dangerous Driving is a fun, if not small experience worth investing in for not only the good times but the potential for what might come next. 

Gameplay

Dangerous Driving is and isn't Burnout. 

It has some of the classic Burnout feel. Vehicles are suctioned to the pavement but whip around corners with unrealistic finesse. Takedowns are a thrill, and the other competitors on the track are aggressive. A turbo meter rips everything but the vehicle into a thrilling motion-blur-speedfest when activated. 

But this title manages to stand on its own, too. It's on Unreal Engine 4, so some of the superb parts of Burnout aren't as refined. Drifting is probably the best example. Clicking into a drift in Burnout games just felt right, whereas here actually starting the drift is a hit-or-miss experience at times. 

The lone negative there isn't a deal breaker, though. Once the player adapts (which doesn't take long), the game controls like a charm. Breezing through tough turns at 200 miles per hour is intuitive, as is dodging in and out of oncoming traffic to build up the turbo meter. 

That turbo meter doesn't do anything innovative by any means, but it's a blast to simply have that back in a prominent racing game. The constant battle of yo-yoing in and out of turbo by stringing along stunts such as takedowns to refill the meter is a time-tested minigame within the game itself. 

Takedowns are back and feel solid, if not a little too easy at times. Granted, it's important to keep in mind the speeds these vehicles are operating at when a takedown occurs, but sometimes a simple lovetap sends an opponent flying into a tornado of destruction, viewable on the superb takedown cam. 

Persistent wrecks are a fun idea and perhaps the biggest alteration to the formula. Takedowns now have consequences, as the carcass of any opponent the player wrecks will stay where it landed throughout the race. It's all fun and games wrecking the opposition until that opposition's destroyed car ruins a bid for first place on the final lap of a race. 

An arcade racer at its core, the tight handling, simplistic controls and sense of speed make for brilliant time. 

Graphics and Presentation

Sometimes "good enough" isn't a knock. 

Dangerous Driving's visuals are just that. The vehicles are the centerpiece of the action and are treated as such. Light gleams off the surfaces of these glossy rides, and destruction, shattered glass, flying sparks and all are treated as the main course of the meal. 

Speaking of courses, the tracks are the usual Burnout affair, weaving through canyon backdrops and past bodies of water. National parks, mountain ranges littered with snow, vast cloudy skies and wide-open stretches of road are a taste of the many play spaces available.

They all look good off in the distance and don't distract too much. Only small issues here and there pop up, such as a vine that hangs over a track but doesn't move when cars pass through it. 

One potential misstep for players might come in the form of the motion blur. There is a lot of it going on at all times. And while this is meant to offer a sense of blinding speed—which it does—it can be too much.  

This falls under the gameplay umbrella a tad, too, but there is a noticeable lack of traffic throughout the races. It's maybe something players wouldn't notice unless they were looking for it as they whip through the tracks but lends to the feeling of the world feeling rather empty. 

Sound might be the biggest negative here. There is a Spotify functionally baked into the game, but if players don't have it, the only thing accompanying them during races will be the whine of an engine. Soundtracks were a major feature in the Burnout franchise, and there isn't one here, which leaves players to their own devices. 

Overall, this is a colorful arcade racer with text that pops off the screen and good-looking cars. It isn't all too different from an arcade machine—and that's not a criticism. 

Features

Dangerous Driving is light on content. 

So it goes for a game created by a small studio and with a singular niche it wants to tackle. There is no multiplayer in the game at launch, and the game's main menu upon booting it only features Dangerous Driving Tour and settings. 

Dangerous Driving Tour is the meat of the game and tasks the player with completing a big list of events within six different classifications. Within, Road Rage, Pursuit and a handful of other modes offer up the variety players will want.

Eliminator races is a survival mode over a number of laps. Face Offs ask the player to take down a faster opponent multiple times. Survival is a one-crash-and-it's-over event, which is about as tense as it sounds when flying at 205 miles per hour.

A new Heatwave feature has a fun wrinkle, too: each heatwave combo ups the car's max speed by two miles per hour. Slam the turbo button and don't let go to earn the speed boost—it's simple, but it gets addictive and dangerous, with each multiplier of speed bringing the car closer to simply taking flight after hitting a small incline. 

These modes keep the experience fresh at all times. Hopping from a rival race to a takedown competition is a good time and beats only having lap-based events. While light on features as a whole, the modes within the game's center attraction make a good point to highlight all of the game's systems. 

A medal system based on performance will keep completionists happy, and these haven't felt unfair. Chasing a 100-percent goal in a certain class or overall for the game doesn't feel unattainable, and it adds a massive hit of replayability to the experience. 

Those tiers of car classes move in predictable fashion, from sedans and SUVs right on up to the supercars. As expected, they feel different enough to justify tier changes, and while the car list itself isn't overwhelming by any means, there is enough here to keep things interesting. 

While light on features and cars (26 unlockable), the massive list of events and multiplayer coming via free DLC balances the scales in an impressive fashion. It takes some digging below the initial surface, but Dangerous Driving has some fun depth fitting of the game's overarching goal. 

Conclusion

It's all about expectations. 

Players who understand what this game is, its limitations and what it set out to accomplish within its price range will leave them feeling satisfied thanks to the brilliant gameplay loop. It's simply a blast to play thanks to its refined take on a classic without any gimmicks or major details holding it back. 

Dangerous Driving is also respectable in its simplicity. There isn't an open world with a checklist of things to do. There aren't tuning systems to worry about before a certain style of race, nor are there endless assist modifiers to experiment with to get a helping hand. 

Just pick up and race, arcade style. Those players who have been vying for a classic Burnout-style arcade racer have found a new home.